Quest For Glory

It's almost guaranteed that at some point in the life of a programmer, who also happens to be an avid gamer, they will declare "I am going to write a game!"

A few weeks later, they realise what a fucking chore it actually is, and there goes that idea right to Hell (which, as we all know, has a road leading towards it paved with bricks made from the finest Goodintentium). This time, however, it's my turn (dagnabbit) to venture forth into that murky night which is indie game development. I won't be trying to create GTA IV on a shoestring budget, but I ain't gonna crap out no Pong, either. Thus, I'll be chronicling my efforts to create an honest-to-gollygosh playable game on this blog, if for no other reason than cloggin' up the 'Tubes and to provide me with nostalgic source material many moons from now.

Here's the TL;DR, attention-deficit Internet: Guy starts writing game, blogs about it. Hopefully finishes game at some point.

"But what shall you create?!," shrieks the audience in my head. To which I reply with two sharp blows to my skull, silencing the din of voices once more. To the Gentle Reader, however, I will say this much:

I've always been a huge fan of role-playing games, and invariably I always toy with the idea of creating an RPG I could call my own. Epic, multi-game odysseys such as the Ultima series aren't really a feasible option for me right now, though, so I had to tone down the gain knob from eleven to something a bit more sensible (This Is Not Spınal Tap), using two requirements I set for myself as a guideline.

Firstly, it must be Fun™. Face it, if it isn't consistently fun for a nominal amount of time which isn't one afternoon, there's really no fucking point, is there?

Secondly, it must be Quick To Develop™. Sure, I can sit on this project for the next five years. That's easy. But I won't, and the reason why should be obvious. Having a released game available to the consuming public sooner rather than later means I can potentially milk this bitch up for some dollar signs sooner rather than later, and that is always some bonus right there. And even if I end up not making a single dime off this game, at least I'll have experienced what it's like to see a game through in a shorter time frame than a more ambitious project would have allowed. Valuable experience is undoubtedly valuable for future endeavours.

Add a dollop of procedural generation, drawn from hours of playing Angband variants and Dwarf Fortress, and you have a recipe for a game that will (hopefully) not suck (too badly). That's about as much as I'll say about the game theme now, though. Have to leave something for later posts, né?

(Edit: It seems a lot of browsers/font renderers don't appreciate the n-diaresis I used in the Spinal Tap reference to be pedantic about the spelling. For shame.)